FIT’s Early Look at Michelle Obama’s Isabel Toledo Ensemble

When a crew from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York arrived at designer Isabel Toledo’s studio for a photo shoot in December, they got a little more than they expected.

Michelle Obama in Isabel Toledo at the inaugural parade. (Credit: AP)

Pinned up in the studio was a small sketch of a sheath dress, which roused the suspicion of Patricia Mears, deputy director for the Museum at FIT. It turns out it was the dress that Michelle Obama wore to the inauguration this morning. “Isabel doesn’t usually make sketches of her work,” says Ms. Mears, who immediately asked the designer about the sketch and found out that Mrs. Obama’s staff had contacted Ms. Toledo sometime in December about designing a dress. “I said, ‘Oh, are you going to be doing the gown?’ And she said, ‘I really want to do the day dress—that’s what I’m more about.”

“They told her Mrs. Obama would likely wear the piece to church. I was sort of sworn to secrecy about it,” Ms. Mears adds. (Ms. Toledo could not be reached for comment.)

The dress and matching coat were made of a combination of fabrics—lace over wool, both of a slightly shiny, pale green-gold hue that Ms. Mears says Ms. Toledo dubs “lemongrass.” The designer incorporated a pashmina lining and handquilted cotton into the construction of the dress for warmth, since Mrs. Obama would be wearing the ensemble outdoors during the swearing-in and inaugural parade, Ms. Mears says, noting that a layer of silk tulle also added some volume to the dress. (Mrs. Obama paired the ensemble with green patent-leather Jimmy Choo heels that were custom-ordered through Chicago boutique Ikram, according to the high-end shoe label.)

Ms. Mears, who says she saw Ms. Toledo working on a pattern of the dress earlier this month in her studio, notes that the designer was unsure whether the new First Lady would wear her ensemble at all until she saw her on TV this morning. “The fact that she picked Isabel, who is not known to a lot of people internationally is just invigorating for all of us” in fashion, Ms. Mears says. “She’s recognizing that great American talent exists—there was a loud cheer on Seventh Avenue this morning.”

It’s unclear whether the dress will be a part of the FIT museum’s Isabel Toledo retrospective exhibition, which opens June 16 and will include 80 ensembles—the Smithsonian‘s National Museum of American History says it is planning to send a letter to the White House this week requesting Mrs. Obama’s day and evening dresses from the inauguration for its permanent collection.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.